Keep Tryin' Ryu
by Falcon Strife
Summary: -Oneshot- Ryu tries to get Tamao to accept his career choice. Taking place when Hana is young.


**Keep Tryin', Ryu**

Ryu let out a pouty sigh while laying his head on the table. He really wanted to go home. Back home to his happy kitchen, his comfy futon, and his unborn child. There was one thing that kept him from going home though.

Tamao.

He knew as soon as he walked in she would start reading him the riot act.

"Where were you Ryu! I was worried sick! I told you to stop being a hero! You hurt yourself! You could have burnt up! Do you HAVE a death wish!"

Ryu growled while looking up to his co-workers, who were doing a rather accurate imitation of his wife. Sure, he liked them. Minako and Hiro were both very intellectual, while Tsuka and Kenji were funny. Berlin was always up to date in recent events, while Byron was a neat history book. But he didn't like going to the bar with them. They always got too drunk, leaving him with chauffeur duty, and they had a very bad habit of getting him into some sort of trouble. One bar had completely banned them after Kenji started a riot, and another time Tamao showed up at the station when Minako was attempting to get him to pose for a calendar.

He let out a bit of a whine. Tamao had always been so nice and shy. Once they were married, though, Ryu had discovered many things about the girl, including a lack of modesty when aroused and a temper that could match Anna's if she didn't like something he did. And it was only worse now that she was pregnant. He loved her, but he hadn't realized there would be so many complications with being her husband.

"Ryu, have a drink," Hiro said with a bit of a smile. "You've hauled our butts home enough times."

"You were already drinking, Hiro," Ryu groaned. "Besides. Tamao'll be angrier if she finds out."

Tokagero sighed. He too would suffer Tamao's wrath when they returned. It was up to him to look after Ryu, and the reporters had been very specific when they reported Ryu had injured some ribs. He shook his head and looked at the clock. "I told ya not to trust the sweet ones," he sighed at Ryu. "It's always the sweet ones that snap."

"She's still sweet," Ryu sighed, ignoring that his friends didn't have sixth sense. A moment later he looked up when a hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"You need some Trojan to set her straight," Byron said with a grin, his American accent still heavy, despite living in Japan for nearly six years.

Ryu looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. "Excuse me?" he asked while the others began to snicker.

"That's right," Berlin replied for Ryu. "Sleeping with her will make her forget everything." He looked to Minako and Tsuka. "Is it true that women go longer when they're pregnant?"

"How would we know?" the girls demanded angrily. And how would they? Minako was single, while Tsuka was a transsexual. Neither of them were planning on kids for a long time.

"No, not sex," Byron snapped at the others, and then looked at Ryu. "Give her what she wants, but throw in a repercussion."

"Hmm?" Ryu looked at him suspiciously for several minutes. "Backstab my own wife? Yeah, she's really going to let me live inside if I do that."

"No, seriously," Byron replied. "Just tell her that firefighting is dangerous, but then remind her that there are way more dangerous jobs out there."

Ryu frowned a bit. "You really think that would work?"

"It's exactly like the Trojan horse," Byron replied. "And believe me, if she does bother you about the job again, it won't be for a long time.

"Sounds risky," Tokagero said to Ryu with a frown.

Ryu thought for a moment, and then grinned. "Actually... It sounds like my ticket out of trouble," he replied, and then stood while grabbing his jacket.

"Hey, Ryu. Where you going?" Hiro asked.

"Home," Ryu replied.

"Huh? But who's gonna drive us?" Kenji asked, already half drunk.

"Call a cab," Ryu replied with a twitching eyebrow, and then ran out of the bar. Half an hour later he had reached Funbari Onsen.

"Ryu, I still say this is a bad idea," Tokagero said nervously.

"It'll work," Ryu replied with a grin, and then came to a curious stop when Tokagero appeared in front of him with a studious expression. "What?"

"Are you drunk? Or high or something?" Tokagero demanded.

"No," he replied. "Why?"

"Because you're acting like an idiot! She's gonna beat you senseless, Ryu!"

"If you're so worried, go spend the night on Funbari Hill," Ryu replied.

Tokagero watched with a nervous expression as his shaman walked past him and entered the hotel, and then sighed while disappearing. It was always an embarrassing sight when Tamao got angry at his partner, and he didn't feel like seeing it tonight.

Meanwhile, Ryu had kicked off his shoes and hung his jacket up quickly. "Tamao? I'm home!" A moment later he heard rushing feet. When he turned, Tamao was suddenly there, tackle-hugging him.

"Ryu, I was so scared!" Tamao cried loudly while hugging him tightly, and then looked up when she heard him yelp in pain. With a frown she straightened up and pull his shirt open. "What's this, Ryu!" she demanded, finding his midriff bandaged.

"Oh... Uh... Well, I had a little fall, but I'll be fine," Ryu replied with a nervous grin.

"What kind of fall, Ryu?" she demanded, knowing full well how he had achieved his newest injury.

"Um..." Ryu stammered for a moment, knowing she knew and unsure how to answer. "Through... a floor," he replied with a sheepish expression.

"Exactly! I told you that job was too dangerous!"

"But Honey, it wasn't as big a fall as the last one!" Ryu cried desperately.

"Oh?" Tamao asked suspiciously.

"Yes. It was only one floor, and this one was only ten meters," Ryu replied with a grin, and then yelped when she slapped him across the face.

"Ryu, you're going to get hurt really bad some day!" Tamao cried.

Ryu moaned defeatedly as Tamao turned on the waterworks. Once she started crying, there was little hope for peace, not to mention he felt even more guilty than before. "Don't cry, Honey-Berry," he said desperately while hugging her. "I'll be okay. And besides, I've got good news for you."

"H-Huh?" She looked up at him, becoming meek suddenly. "Y-You do?"

"I... Uh... I quit the station," he said with weak grin. "I got a better job."

"R-Really?" she asked.

"Yep. No more running into blazing buildings for me," Ryu replied as she pulled back.

"Really? Oh Ryu! Thank you!" she cried happily.

"Yep. Tomorrow I become a law enforcer!"

Tamao frowned some. "A... what?"

"You know. Chase down druggies and murderers. Shoot at badguys if they shoot at me. Hey, I might even get into the military if I do well enough," he said with a grin. A moment later he yelped when she fainted. "T-Tamao-chan!"

"Unca Ryu? Wha's goin' on?"

Ryu looked up curiously and found Yoh's four-year-old son, Hana, standing at the foot of the stairs with a sleepy expression. "Hana, go get a cold, wet cloth for Aunt Tamao!" he cried while dropping down beside Tamao, and then he shook her shoulders some. "Tamao? Honey-Berry, come on. Wake up."

After several minutes Tamao awoke, a cold compress on her forehead and Ryu and Hana by her side. "Ryu?"

"How do you feel, Hun?" Ryu asked worriedly. "Are you and the baby okay?"

"With you it's always about the baby!" she suddenly cried. "Well what about me! Aren't I more than a baby maker!"

"Did Aunti hit her head?" Hana asked while looking to a nervous Ryu.

"Honey, you know I love you," Ryu said with a weak smile.

"Oh, sure you do," Tamao sobbed. "You're going to go out and play with guns now and get yourself killed! You're going to leave me and the baby all alone in this dark, cruel world!"

Ryu moaned while letting his head droop, and then he looked at her with a smile. "Honey, it was a joke."

"You mean you aren't going to be a police man?" Hana asked curiously.

"Really!" Tamao cried, tears gone and a smile forming.

"Of course not, Honey-Berry. I wouldn't do something _that_ stupid," Ryu laughed while helping her to her feet.

"Oh, Ryu!" Tamao cried while hugging him again, though not as roughly as the last time. "You're the greatest. Let's go cook something!" she cried happily, and then turned and began walking away.

"Oh well," Hana yawned. "I'm gonna miss you being a hero, Unca Ryu."

"Oh, yes," Tamao said while turning back. "What _are _you going to do now, Ryu?"

"Hmm? The same thing as always," Ryu replied with a shrug. "I told you, it was a joke. I just wanted you to see there were more dangerous things."

"What... are you saying?" Tamao asked with a frown.

"I'm still a firefighter, Hun," Ryu replied with a grin. A moment later he blinked, realizing Tamao was turning red. "Honey?"

"RYU!" Tamao's voice echoed throughout Funbari.

_- Fini_

Shaman King © Hiroyuki Takei


End file.
